US Vice President's speech sparks European backlash, widening transatlantic rift

US Vice President JD Vance's remarks at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Friday drew sharp criticism from European officials, highlighting growing tensions between Washington and its European allies.

The Munich Security Conference has long been an important platform for US-European dialogue on global security. But this year's event exposed widening gaps on key issues, highlighting the growing uncertainty in US-European relations following Donald Trump's return to the presidency.

Addressing the MSC, Vance said Europe's greatest challenge was not external threats but internal democratic erosion. He accused Europe of moving away from the "core values" it shares with the United States, and raised concerns about electoral policies, civil rights and freedom of speech on the continent.

Although President Trump praised Vance's remarks as "good and brilliant", many European officials were quick to rebuke him, seeing it as an unwarranted attack from a long-time ally.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday criticised Vance for "interfering in German politics" and strongly rejected outside influence on the country's democracy. Scholz stressed that Germany would not tolerate outsiders interfering in "our democracy, our elections and the democratic formation of opinion".

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had criticised the Trump administration and major tech companies before Vance's "hurting" speech, saying the new US administration's worldview disregards established rules, partnerships and long-standing trust. He told the MSC that allowing such a worldview to dominate would be detrimental to the international community.

Other European officials joined the chorus of condemnation. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called Vance's remarks "unacceptable", while Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen described the US attitude towards its allies as "confrontational and challenging".

Speaking in Munich, Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani said that Vance's remarks were fuelling an unnecessary controversy that served no one's interests.

Responding to Vance's comments on Europe's electoral and immigration policies, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot insisted on Saturday that Europe would not accept external impositions.

"No one is required to adopt our model, but no one can impose theirs on us," he posted on social media. "When one is self-confident, one doesn't feel threatened by criticism."

Against the backdrop of recent US tariffs on steel and aluminium, and the Trump administration's controversial stances on Gaza and Ukraine, Vance's speech was seen as a further shift in transatlantic relations. Reflecting the impact of the speech, Politico Europe and the BBC described it as an "attack" and a "blast", while The Guardian said it "laid bare the collapse of the transatlantic alliance".  Many experts noted that Vance's speech underscored the deepening rifts between the US and Europe, not only on security issues, but also on social and cultural ones.

Tomas Janeliunas, a professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, described the reaction in Munich as one of shock.

Croatian security expert Vlatko Cvrtila argued that Vance had misunderstood European democracy.

"He has no knowledge of European history at all -- what happened in Germany and why Germany has protective mechanisms, as does the rest of Europe."

Pero Kovacevic, former state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Defence, said Vance's speech showed US frustration with Europe's perceived inability to address key challenges.

While Vance's remarks were largely unwelcome among mainstream European leaders, they found support among right-wing politicians. Some German media interpreted Vance's remarks -- made just a week before German elections -- as an indirect endorsement of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. AfD leader Alice Weidel called Vance's speech 'excellent', while France's far-right leader Jordan Bardella said Vance's observations on freedom of expression and migration were "quite lucid".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban echoed Vance's views on immigration. In a social media post, he said: "We have been saying since 2015 that mass illegal migration is a recipe for disaster ... We are not happy that time has proved us right, but we are happy that Hungary has stayed out of this madness."

Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon called Vance's remarks a "wake-up call" for Europe.

"US Vice President Vance's cold shower to Europeans at the expense of freedom of speech and democracy in Europe is still echoing strongly in Munich," she posted on social media.

Meanwhile, Zeljka Cvijanovic, the chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), praised Vance's speech as "clear, realistic and inspiring", and agreed with his claim that Europe suppresses freedom of speech and nullifies elections that do not align with mainstream policies.